The present application generally relates to systems and methods for selecting a node management device in a wireless network.
A wireless network can have a plurality of network nodes that can communicate with one another. Each of the network nodes in the wireless network can have a corresponding node management device, which may be a network access device (e.g., a gateway), a coordinator or other device configured to manage the network node. In some cases, such as when a node management device is implemented as gateway, the node management device may provide access to other portions of the network or other networks. The node management device can be used to perform management functions for the network node such as the providing of configuration and/or software updates to the network node, facilitate communication between the network node and other portions of the wireless network and/or other networks and/or devices, coordinate communication times by the network node, and/or control operational states of the network node (e.g., entering and exiting a sleep state). In larger wireless networks, multiple node management devices can be deployed to help scale the wireless network for the number of nodes. Typically, a node can be provided with a node management device when it is installed and/or commissioned. The node management device for the node can either be assigned by the installer or automatically selected by the node during the commissioning process.
Some tools and techniques have been developed to aid the installer or the network node in the selection of an appropriate node management device using a combination of physical location or topology information including the number of hops and signal strength between network nodes and a node management device. While current tools and techniques can be effective in identifying the closest node management device to a node, the tools and techniques may lack the ability to select the most reliable node management device (i.e., the node management device that provides the most consistent communications) for a node. The closest node management device to a node may not be the most reliable node management device for that node depending on various factors such as congestion at the node management device. Further, many current tools and techniques do not provide any mechanism for a node to change node management devices, if the current node management device of a node should become less reliable as a result of increased traffic through the node management device.